The car was his mobile residence

Akram, gunned down near Peenya early on Wednesday, was always on the move to escape arrest, police said.

The Hyundai Accent car in which he was travelling doubled as his mobile residence. Police found a shaving set, clothes, shoes and other essentials stored in the car, indicating that he had not stayed anywhere for long after the attack on two police informers last month.

A machete, electricity bills, bank documents and two mobile phones were also found in the vehicle. The phones, however, did not have Sim cards.

“He was on the move after the murder of informer Nanjundappa,” SN Sidramappa, deputy commissioner of police (West division), said.

Experts from the Forensic Science Laboratory, who took over the country-made pistol used for firing at the police, also found two live bullets in it.

Meanwhile, an officer attached to the central crime branch said criminals were avoiding roadside eateries — dhabas —  after the police started monitoring them, especially those operating in the city outskirts.

“They now prefer small restaurants,” he said on the condition of anonymity. “They go to lakes for ablutions, and most of the time they will be on the move.”

Another officer said criminals seldom use mobile phones. That made them difficult to locate.

“It is difficult to find them. Some of them have stopped using mobile phones,” he said, while explaining the absence of Sim cards in cell phones found in Akram’s car.